Please note: sale to France is prohibited.

Garnet is a deep red with metallic flake — not the bright signal red of a race replica but the darker, wine-toned end of the spectrum, which is a far harder colour to produce well and a much easier one to live with.

Five stars from SHARP — and the number behind them

SHARP records the Neotec 3's shell as fibreglass, weighing 1.7 kg across sizes XS to XXL — figures that match Shoei's own AIM construction and 1750 g exactly. That correspondence matters, because a rating only transfers to the helmet you are buying if the tested helmet is the same one.

It is, and the result is five stars out of five from the February 2024 test.

About the Garnet Metallic finish

Deep reds are the most difficult pigments in the paint business, and it is worth knowing why before you judge any red helmet. Red pigment is the least lightfast of the common colours: it absorbs the high-energy end of the spectrum, which is exactly the part of sunlight that breaks pigment down. Cheap reds fade to pink from the crown downwards within a few seasons. A metallic garnet is far more stable, because the aluminium flake reflects a large share of that energy back out before it reaches the pigment layer, and the darker base has more depth to lose before a shift becomes visible. On the bike it does what a dark red should: it reads as red in sun and nearly black under cloud, and it sits with far more motorcycles than a bright red would.

P and J, and what ECE 22.06 actually tests

Worth a paragraph rather than a table row. Under 22.06 the shell is struck at up to eighteen points at more than one speed, then dropped onto an anvil set at an angle and faced with abrasive paper so the laboratory can measure how far the head is spun as well as how hard it is stopped.

The P/J suffix means all of that was done twice: once with the chin bar locked shut, once with it locked open.

AIM, three shells, and the steel that holds the chin bar

There is a protection argument hidden in the shell count. Impact energy is absorbed by the EPS crushing, and that liner has to be the right thickness for the head inside it. Stretch one shell across six sizes and the small sizes end up with more foam than the standard requires while the large ones get the minimum.

Three tools — XS–M, L, XL–XXL — keep every size closer to its design thickness, inside an AIM fibreglass shell.

CNS-3C and QSV-2 — and the Neotec II trap

The central latch on the CNS-3C is worth noticing the first time you use it. A visor latched at one side is opened with a twisting motion that loads the mechanism unevenly; one latched in the middle opens square. Over years of daily use that is the difference between a screen that still seals and one that has developed a whistle.

🔵 Replacement screens must be CNS-3C — the Neotec II's CNS-3 does not fit.

Quiet by design, and what that costs in airflow

There is no published decibel figure for this helmet and we are not going to invent one — no manufacturer publishes comparable acoustic data, because the number depends as much on your motorcycle as on the helmet. What can be said is the direction of the engineering, and Shoei has been explicit about it: quietness first.

🔵 Ventilation is the thing that gave way. Adequate, not abundant.

Noise Isolator, glasses, and talking to the helmet

An interior that comes out and goes in a washing machine matters more than it sounds. A liner absorbs sweat and hair oils, and those break down the foam chemically as well as making the helmet smell — a liner washed twice a season lasts markedly longer than one that is never washed.

Centre pad, cheek pads and chin strap cover all detach, and replacements are available in several thicknesses.

Where it sits in Shoei's range

Six Shoei models sit in the table below and they answer six different questions. The relevant comparison for a modular buyer is the row above: the GT-Air3, which shares this helmet's sun visor concept and acoustic priorities in full-face form, for seventy euros less.

The Neotec 3 costs that difference for a chin bar that opens — plus the dual P/J homologation that makes using it legal.

1750 grams, and the rest of the honest list

The open chin bar is worth being specific about, because riders buy modular helmets for it and then discover its limits. Shoei's own guidance is that the raised bar creates noticeable drag above roughly 30 km/h. It is a traffic-queue, toll-booth and fuel-stop feature. It is certified for riding — the J homologation covers that — but it is not designed for a motorway.

Closed is the intended configuration, and closed is where the acoustic work pays.

When something wears out

Buying spares for a helmet at this price is not an expense so much as arithmetic. A set of cheek pads, a centre pad and a fresh CNS-3C visor together cost a fraction of a new helmet — and a helmet that has been re-padded and re-visored is functionally new everywhere it touches you. The shell is the part that does not wear.

🔵 CNS-3C only. The previous generation's screen will not fit.

In the box

• Shoei Neotec 3 helmet — Garnet Metallic
• Pinlock® EVO DKS301 anti-fog lens
• Helmet bag
• Instruction manual and ECE approval documentation

Size guide

Specification

• Model — Shoei Neotec 3
• Part number — 12.07.024.2
• Colour — Garnet Metallic — Garnet red metallic
• Homologation — ECE 22.06, dual P/J (protective and jet)
• Safety rating — SHARP 5 of 5 stars (tested February 2024, ECE 22.06); chin bar fully locked in 93 % of impacts
• Helmet type — Flip-up / modular
• Shell — AIM (Advanced Integrated Matrix) — fibreglass and organic fibres in resin; three shell sizes (XS–M / L / XL–XXL)
• Weight — 1750 g (size M)
• Sizes — XS to XXL (six sizes)
• Visor — CNS-3C, tool-free quick-change, central lock, gap-width detent, angled upper edge
• Anti-fog — Pinlock® EVO DKS301 supplied
• Sun visor — QSV-2, integrated, stepless, covers below the eyeline; optional yellow contrast version
• Impact liner — multi-density EPS assembled from elements of differing absorption
• Retention — micro-ratchet chin strap; stainless steel chin bar locking mechanism
• Ventilation — intakes into the airstream, branched internal network, removable insect filter in the lower front vent
• Interior — 3D centre pad, Noise Isolator cheek pads, removable ear pads, chin strap cover — removable and washable, several thicknesses
• Head shape — intermediate oval
• Communication — SHOEI COMLINK with pre-routed cabling and EPS recesses for the SENA SRL3 Mesh system
• Serviceability — visor, sun visor, all pads and the Pinlock lens available as separate parts

• 1x helmet
• 1x clear CNS-3C visor (pre-fitted)
• 1x Pinlock EVO anti-fog lens
• 1x set of spare pins
• 1x maintenance tool
• 1x breath guard